Yes, which reminds me of the Terry Pratchett book, 'Lords and Ladies' about
the faeries.
-----Original Message-----
From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Caduceus Books
Sent: Monday, 10 January 2011 1:05 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC Digest - 7 Jan 2011
to 8 Jan 2011 (#2011-7)
Greetings!
>I'm pretty sure that contemporary neo-pagan title-mongering originates from
>nineteenth century Freemasonry, which in the American system was (and is)
>replete with Grand poo-bah's of this and that, equaled only in grandeur by
>their female counterparts in the Order of the Eastern Star. Since the
Golden
>Dawn ritual comes straight out of Freemasonry, and many magical groups
>descend from Golden Dawn, it seems reasonable to think that the fancy
titles
>followed the pedigree of the organizations and expanded accordingly.
True indeed. Also, I think the king and queen of the witches titles
reflects similar titles in other clandestine or marginal groupings.
There have also been king of the gypsies, king of the poachers, king of
the smugglers, king of the beggars etc.
Beyond clandestine and marginal, one also finds the terms used when
describing a grouping of liminal or praeterhuman beings; I am thinking
here of the offices of king and queen of the fairies. Witches, of
course, were considered to be humans who could also operate as
disincarnate beings in order to work magic and attend the sabbat etc. I
suppose that, historically, the King of the Witches would have been
Satan, the Man in Black, or whomever presided over the sabbat.
My best wishes
Ben
--
Ben Fernee
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